Mosse appeal raises a wide range of issues

There is no appeal date yet for Gerald Mosse's careless riding ban, and he has the longwinded appeals process running block for him as he seeks a clear passage to pilot Elegant Fashion in the Queen Elizabeth II Cup. The process cleared the way for Shane Dye on Derby day and with Easter to come, Mosse is still a borderline chance to be riding on a stay of proceedings on April 27.

But whether Mosse rides at the Cup meeting or not, his appeal will centre on an issue which has doubtless come up before and will do so again. Mosse pleaded guilty to his charge last Wednesday and received the minimum suspension of three race days, but in appealing against the severity of the ban, Mosse will argue that he did not in effect receive that minimum term - for the QE II Cup meeting is one of Hong Kong's rare showpieces yet it carries the same suspension status as tonight's all-weather meeting.

Mosse will argue that he should serve two days and have the final day replaced by a fine. Or that the part of the ban served by QE II Cup day be deferred to a 'normal' raceday. And it is too late for him to argue that he should have been able to commence his ban immediately.

Last Wednesday night, Mosse was refused permission to forego his seven rides at the Sha Tin meeting at the weekend on the basis of the inconvenience caused to connections of those horses. Hong Kong racing quite rightly likes to boast of the talent available in its jockeys' room. It could be argued there is even an oversupply of top jockeys who might have replaced Mosse on last Sunday's mounts.

If he makes the request to be excused from those rides, that is a business decision on his part - he may lose favour with those owners or trainers for future engagements and, let's be realistic, Elegant Fashion is hardly over the line in the QE II Cup. The jockey wanted to gamble on winning a big race and was prepared to sacrifice other chances now and in the future.

Stewards will argue that the owners have a side to that argument, too. All rides are important. Owners and trainers are entitled to get the rider they have booked ahead of declarations but a trickier question is: who has right of way?